Upbeat directors in shares spree

DIRECTORS have gone on a buying spree in recent weeks, snapping up shares in their own companies at the fastest rate since September 11. While private investors have dashed for the exits, directors have given their companies a vote of confidence with boardroom share-buying outstripping selling by four to one.

Figures compiled by leading financial website Digital-Look.com show that in the last week of June, there were 113 cases of directors buying shares in their own companies against an average during the past year of just 80 a week.

In that same week, there were only 30 instances of directors selling. The research coincides with a nervous week on the stock market when the FTSE 100 index fell as low as 4,392, well below the 4,433 low after September 11.

City opinion is divided on whether directors are right to anticipate a bounce in the market or whether their optimism is misplaced. Among the buyers last week was Graham Wallace, chief executive of Cable & Wireless, who spent almost £40,000 on shares in the company as the price hit a five-year low.

Ian Harley, embattled chief executive of Abbey National, took advantage of the group's weak price to buy £160,000 worth of shares. As investors ditched shares after September 11, many directors boosted their stakes. They racked up huge profits when the market rallied.

Andy Yates, director at DigitalLook.com, said: 'It is heartening that directors are willing to back their own companies. It suggests there might be light at the end of the tunnel.'

On Friday, markets surged dramatically with the Footsie jumping 144 points and the US Dow Jones index ending 253 points higher.